The receptivity of the structural process by the inter-American human rights system: reflections from the case of the xucuru indigenous people and their members vs. Brazil

Abstract

After the atrocities committed in the two great world wars, especially the second, it was necessary to build an International System for the Protection of Human Rights, in order to mitigate the bases of Nazism. The internationalization of human rights is, therefore, a recent phenomenon in history, a product of the struggles and achievements of the late 20th century. In this scenario, the so-called regional systems of protection emerged, among them, the inter-American system, which in the context of transforming regional constitutionalism legitimized itself as an important instrument for the protection of human rights, with the help of the American Commission, the Inter-American Court and the Inter-American Process as a whole. Based on these analyses, we begin to reflect on a new type of process, called “structural process”. The present work seeks to investigate, therefore, whether the Inter-American system is receptive to the structural process, analyzing the rules of the Inter-American process and taking as a parameter the case of the Xucuru indigenous people and their members vs Brazil, a reflection from the psychosocial perspective of geopolitics. As for the methodology, it started with theoretical research with the analysis of empirical elements, with a qualitative approach. The applied logic was predominantly hypothetical-deductive and the research procedures were made possible through bibliographical-documental survey and case study.

Keywords: International System for the Protection of Human Rights. Inter-American System. Protection tools; Structural process. Case of the Xucuru people vs. Brazil.